Some buyers are horrified to find termite and wood destroying insect (WDI) damage after their house has gone under contract, the purchase has gone through and the closing has taken place. Many times, this could have been prevented if only the real estate agent had inquired about and obtained a WDI inspection reports. However, negligent real estate agents sometimes do not obtain a termite/WDI report, causing their buyers to purchase a home with termite damage. If this happens, you may be able to file a lawsuit and recover compensation to fix the damage with the help of Whitney, LLP’s real estate lawyers.
Whitney, LLP’s real estate lawyers help Maryland home buyers bring claims and file lawsuits against dishonest and negligent home sellers, house flippers, real estate agents and termite inspection companies across Maryland. Our attorneys recover compensation for buyers to repair hidden damage and defects and for emotional distress. We offer legal consultations.
If you need a real estate lawyer near me to help with hidden damage, failure to disclose defects, negligence or fraud in the purchase of a house, call us at (410) 583-8000 or use our online Quick Contact form.
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Home Buyers Should Get a WDI/Termite Inspection Report
Even when home buyers have the right to get a termite inspection performed under the contract, they do not always take advantage of the opportunity thanks to the negligence, carelessness or inattention of their real estate agent. When this happens, you may be able to file a lawsuit against your agent.
Your real estate agent owes you the duties to act in your interests and with due care when representing you in the purchase of a home. They are obligated to act as a reasonable real estate agent would in the buying process. The agent should obtain all the information about the property that you need to make the final decision. That includes discussing with the buyer why a WDI/termite inspection is important, and making sure the buyer knows why it is important and they should get one. The WDI inspection is one of the key pieces of data that you need to ensure that you are getting the house that you are paying for, without hidden termite damage, when you sign the contract.
In order to determine your legal options, you would need to know exactly why your real estate agent did not discuss or schedule the WDI inspection. Most often, it would be because they were negligent and simply failed to do this job. In other circumstances, an agent’s failure to get a WDI inspection can be the result of something worse happening, such as a desire to hide damage in order for the sale to be completed.
You Can Sue Your Real Estate Agent for the Following Reasons
When your agent fails to obtain a WDI report and damage if discovered, you should hire a real estate attorney to get to the bottom of what happened. You could file a lawsuit on several grounds, including:
- Negligence for the failure to exercise due care in getting the termite inspection, or failure to explain to you why it was an important inspection and should be paid for
- Breach of fiduciary duty for not properly representing you
- Misrepresentation if the agent was dishonest about the circumstances of the inspection report
- Fraud if the reason for the agent’s failure was the result of deceit or deception
The first thing that you need to do is hire a real estate lawyer to help you figure out what exactly happened. There are facts that you may not be able to get on your own without the help of a legal professional, such as emails and text messages that need to be preserved.
A real estate lawyer could help you during a legal proceeding to make your agent pay for the problem when its proper due diligence would have revealed WDI damage before you bought the home.
Maryland Lawyers for Lawsuits for Failure to Obtain a WDI Inspection
Negligent real estate agents that do not discuss the importance of a WDI inspection with their clients can be the cause of thousands of dollars of damage. If this happened to you, Whitney, LLP may be able to help file a lawsuit against the negligent real estate agent and help you recover compensation.
If you were the victim of a dishonest seller, negligent real estate agent or WDI/termite inspection company in Maryland, contact Whitney, LLP’s real estate lawyers at (410) 583-8000 or use our online Quick Contact form for your legal consultation.
We represent homebuyers throughout Maryland, including Baltimore, Columbia, Germantown, Silver Spring, Waldorf, Frederick, Ellicott City, Glen Burnie, Gaithersburg, Rockville, Bethesda, Dundalk, Towson, Bowie, Aspen Hill and Wheaton.